…gleaming with the whiteness of her shoulders, the glossiness of her hair and diamonds, she passed between the men who stood aside <...> granting each the right to admire the beauty of her figure, her full shoulders, her bosom and back, very bare accordin

…gleaming with the whiteness of her shoulders, the glossiness of her hair and diamonds, she passed between the men who stood aside <...> granting each the right to admire the beauty of her figure, her full shoulders, her bosom and back, very bare according to the fashion of the day, and as though bringing with her the brilliance of the ball. Hélène was so beautiful that not only was there not a shadow of coquetry to be seen in her, but, on the contrary, she seemed almost ashamed of her undoubted and all too powerfully, all too triumphantly effective beauty.

Most probably, Hélène Kuragina appeared in society in an outfit like this transparent dress from the 1798 Portrait of a Young Woman in White by an artist from the circle of Jacques-Louis David

The Merveilleuses, fashionable young women of the gilded youth, were renowned for their extravagant manner of dress. They wore transparent fabrics inspired by Ancient Greece and Rome, shocking society with their all but naked gowns, beneath which every detail of a girl's physique was plainly visible

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

In the finale of the Strugatskys' Roadside Picnic, the Golden Ball is told: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to offend nobody, but the digest really does come free of charge. So, here is the main business of the

Frederic Leighton

Frederic Leighton. “Daedalus and Icarus”, 1869 Daedalus warns his son not to climb too high: the heat of the sun may melt the wax, but Icarus is already gazing into the distance, and the lamentations of a foolish old man interest him not in the least

…gleaming with the whiteness of her shoulders, the glossiness of her hair and diamonds, she passed between the men who stood aside <...> granting each the right to admire the beauty of her figure, her full shoulders, her bosom and back, very bare accordin

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September digest: archaeological finds, exhibitions, museums, theatre and the Church

Frederic Leighton

Attempts to resolve the problems of many years of uncontrolled mass migration

Characters from Gogol's "Petersburg Tales" on the pedestal of the monument to Nikolai Gogol on Nikitsky Boulevard, photograph of the 1960s